Battle of Prestonpans | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Part of the Jacobite rising of 1745 | |||||||
Cairn erected in memory of the battle | |||||||
| |||||||
Belligerents | |||||||
Jacobites | British Government | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Strength | |||||||
c. 2,400–2,500 | c. 2,190 [a][1] | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
105–120 killed and wounded[2] |
300–500 killed and wounded 500–600 captured | ||||||
Designated | 21 March 2011 | ||||||
Reference no. | BTL16 |
The Battle of Prestonpans, also known as the Battle of Gladsmuir, was fought on 21 September 1745, near Prestonpans, in East Lothian, the first significant engagement of the Jacobite rising of 1745.
Jacobite forces, led by the Stuart exile Charles Edward Stuart and George Murray, defeated a government army under Sir John Cope, whose inexperienced troops broke in the face of a Highland charge. The battle lasted less than thirty minutes, was a huge boost to Jacobite morale, and established the revolt as a serious threat to the British government.
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